Grain-adjusting device for harvesters



2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

(No'IvIodeL) W. N. WHITELEY.

GRAIN ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR HARVESTERS.

Patented Nov. 1,1887.

I w/E fur N. PETERS, Fnwumo hu, Washington. 0.c.

(No Model.) W N' WHITELEY' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

GRAIN ADJUSTINGDEVIGE FOR HARVESTERS. No. 372,505. Patented Nov. 1,1887.

IIIHIIHI "'mu'll 5112255555: v IIL/FIET.

N PETERS. Pholo-Lllhngmpher, Washmglon, D. C.

iJNiTEo STATES PATENT FFICEQ XVILLIAM N. \VHITELEY, OF SPRINGFIELD,OHIO.

GRAIN-ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR HARVESTERS.

$PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 37 5. dated November 1,1887.

Application filed September 24, 1886. Serial No. 214,430.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N. WHITELEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Springfield, county of Clark, and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Head and ButtBoards for Grain-Binders; and I hereby declare the following to be sucha full, clear, and exact de scription of the invention as will enableany person skilled in the art to which it applies to construct and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

Myinvention relates to selt-binding harvesters, and is in the nature ofan improvement in the devices, heretofore made adjustable as to angleand of spring metal to be flexible, for guiding thegrain from theelevating apparatus to the binding-machine for the purpose of alwaysplacing the band around the center of the bundle of grain, whether thesame be long or short.

The objectofmyinvention is to provideahead or butt board for automaticgrain-binding harvesters, adjustable as to angular position on thebinder-deck and jointed midway its length to render its free endflexible, which shall properly guide the grain from the elevators of thebarvester down the inclined binding-deck to the binding apparatus, andwhose general direction and position may be readily changed and maderigid at the will of the operator, as may be necessary to suit thevarying lengths of grain, and that a portion of the said board may berendered flexible by proper mechanism, for the purpose of yielding toany unusual pressure of grain and allowingit to pass without cloggingthe machine. I accomplish this object by means of a butt or head boardhinged or pivoted to the proper point on the harvester, and held inposition or adjusted to any desired angle by means of a stop deviceattached to or acting in connection with the said hinge or pivot andwithin reach of the operator, said board being composed of two partshinged or pivoted to each other, the secondary part being controlled bya spring working in connection with the said hinge and thereby madeflexible, the whole being constructed, arranged, and operating as hereinafter described.

(No model.)

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of such a portionof a binder as will show my invention, the binder being adjusted forbinding long grain. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of theheadboard when the binder is adjusted to bind short grain. Fig. 3 is asimilar view showing the operation of the head-board when the boundbundle is being ejected. Fig. 4is a plan view of a modification of theadjusting device of the head-board, and Fig. 5 is an edge view ot'theadjusting device shown in Fig. 4-.

Similar letters refer to like parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, A A are the side boards of the usualelevating apparatus, B is the binder-deck, O O O is the binder, and DDthe ejectors, all constructed and arranged in any convenient manner.

The head-board is composed of two parts or boards,'E and F, which arehinged or pivoted to each other by the hinge G. Iivotcd to the part a ofthe hinge G is the rod H, which passes through a perforated projection,(1, formed on the part b of the hinge G. The rod H is provided with aspiral spring, h, which, pressing against the shoulder formed on the rodH and the projection (1, tends to keep the hinge G extended, andconsequently the boards E and F in a straight line--73. 0., the board Fin prolongation with the line of the board E,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.The upper end of the board E is hinged or pivoted to the elevator-boardA by the hinge K, and is held in position by a segment, k, formed uponthe part 8 of the hinge K, passing through a perforated projection, it,formed on the part V of the hinge K, and is held in any desired positionby the pin p, passing through the projection t and any one of the holesin the segment 70, by which means the grain, when long, may be guided ina straight line down the inclined binding-deck, as shown in Fig. 1, orin the case of short grain it may be guided toward the front of themachine, as shown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of binding the sheaf in thecenter, in which case the board F, being rendered flexible by the hingeG and spring 71., may swing back, as shown in Fig. 3, when the bundle isdischarged or when excessive pressure is brought against it from anycause.

When it is desired to retain the board F in the position shown in Fig.3, a pin, a, is inserted in the rod H, which, coming in contact upon itthe toothed segment W, into which the catch-pin not the lever B engages.The adjusting-lever R is pivoted on the same center with the hinge K,and pivoted to it andto the part S of the hinge K is the connectinglinkT, by which means the board E may be adjusted and secured in any desiredposition.

The adjusting-lever R. connecting-link T, and part S of the hinge K maybe formed in one piece, it so desired, the link T forming a brace forthe part S and lever B.

In the drawings my invention is shown as arranged to act as ahead-board;but it may be used with as practical an effect as a buttboard, or thesame binder may be provided with both head-boards and butt-boardsconstructed on the same principles.

Having thus described my invention, its construction, arrangement, andoperation, and

without wishing to be understood as restrictin g my claims of inventionto any precise form of proportion of parts, or to any particular devicesnot essential to the principles of construction and mode of operationherein described, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. In an automatic grain-binder, a grainguiding board composed of .twoparts connected with each other by a spring-hinge, one of the partsbeing also hinged or pivoted to the elevating apparatus or some fixedpart thereof.

2. In an automatic grain-binder, a buttboard composed of two or moreboards flexibly connected to each other and controlled by springs whichtend to keep the boards each in line with the other, one of the saidboards being hinged or pivoted to the elevating apparatus or some fixedpart; thereof, the hinge of said board being so constructed that it maybe rendered rigid at any desired point, substantially in the manner andfor the purposes shown and described.

WILLIAM N. \VHITELEY.

Witnesses:

OSCAR E. PERRIGo,

FRED STATE.

